Snoozecast

Dear Snoozecast listener—hi, it’s Vee. I wanted to speak directly to you, because many of you have reached out over the past few weeks—some checking in, some offering kind words, and some understandably worried that something was wrong. First, I want to say: we’re okay. And second: we’re so sorry that we haven’t communicated anything sooner. When N and I slipped into this pause a little over a mon...

Tonight, we’ll continue with The Petit Trianon, adapted from An Adventure by Charlotte Anne Moberly and Eleanor Jourdain, first published in 1911. This episode is part of our Spooky Sleep Story series, where we share classic tales of the strange and mysterious. In Part One, the two English academics described an uncanny afternoon walk through the gardens of Versailles in 1901—an experience they co...

Tonight, we’ll read the first half of The Petit Trianon, adapted from An Adventure by Charlotte Anne Moberly and Eleanor Jourdain, first published in 1911. This episode is part of Snoozecast’s 7th annual Spooky Sleep Story series, where we share true and imagined encounters with the strange and unexplained every October. The two English women, both Oxford academics, recorded their uncanny experien...

Tonight, at long last, we’ll read the final chapter of “Good Wives” written by Louisa May Alcott titled “Harvest Time”. It’s hard to believe, but we have been reading this book for the first time as we’ve read it to you, and that first chapter was started back in December 2019, when Snoozecast was less than 1 year old. We took a break after part one concluded in June 2022 to explore other books. B...

Tonight, for the next in our October spooky sleep story series, we’ll read an excerpt from “The Castle of Otranto”, a novel by Horace Walpole. First published in 1764, it is generally regarded as the first gothic novel. Set in a haunted castle, the novel produced a new style that has endured ever since, and has shaped the modern-day aesthetic of the goth subculture. Walpole wrote it at Strawberry...

Tonight, as part of our annual Spooky Sleep Stories series, we’ll read the opening to the novella “The Willows”. It was written by Algernon Blackwood, and first published in 1907. Two friends drift down the Danube by canoe, threading a maze of shifting channels, sandbanks, and low islands crowded with willow scrub. The river’s moods—eddies, gusts, glittering sun—seem to lean in and watch them, and...

Tonight, for our next Spooky Sleep Story, we’ll read Phantasmagoria, a narrative poem by Lewis Carroll first published in 1869. A polite Ghost drops in after midnight and proceeds to instruct his puzzled host in the finer points of spectral etiquette. Each October we bring back Snoozecast’s Spooky Stories Series—now in its seventh year—our annual run of classics with a candlelit vibe: ghostly, atm...

Tonight, as part of Snoozecast's seventh annual spooky sleep story series, we’ll read “The Haunted Orchard” written by British author Richard Le Gallienne and published in 1912. Each October, our Spooky Stories Series features classic tales that are more atmosphere than fright, all candlelight and creaking floorboards. In this one, a quiet country house and its untended orchard hold a lingering pr...

Tonight, we shall read the next part to Persuasion, the last novel fully completed by Jane Austen, and published in 1817. The story concerns Anne Elliot, an Englishwoman whose family moves in order to lower their expenses, by renting their home to an Admiral and his wife. In the last episode, Anne visits her old school friend Mrs. Smith in Westgate-buildings. Though Mrs. Smith lives in poverty and...

Tonight, as we are beginning the month that ends with Halloween, we’ll read the first half of “The Diamond Lens”, a short story by Fitz James O’Brien first published in 1858. Every October, Snoozecast features our Spooky Stories Series—tales with a spectral or uncanny quality, meant to set a certain mood, without keeping you awake. This marks our seventh year of SSS, and we’re beginning with somet...

Tonight, we’ll read the 33rd chapter of “Anne of Green Gables”, the classic 1908 novel by Lucy Maud Montgomery. This chapter is titled “The Hotel Concert” In the last episode, Anne anxiously awaits the results of the Queen’s entrance examinations along with her friends. When the list is finally published, it reveals that Anne has come in first among all the candidates on the Island, with Gilbert B...

Tonight, we’ll read the second half of "The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter," one of the 56 Sherlock Holmes short stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The first half aired last week. In this tale, we were introduced to Sherlock’s elder brother, Mycroft—whose deductive gifts may surpass even Sherlock’s, though he lacks the drive to apply them in the field. Mycroft brings Holmes into the co...

Tonight, we’ll read the first half to "The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter", written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. It is one of 12 stories in the cycle collected as “The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes”. Out of all 56 Sherlock stories, Doyle ranked "The Greek Interpreter" seventeenth in a list of his nineteen favorites. This tale is especially notable for introducing us to Sherlock Holmes’s older broth...

Tonight, we’ll read the next chapter of “Good Wives” written by Louisa May Alcott titled “Under the Umbrella”. This is also known as the second half of the “Little Women” novel and is considered the 46th chapter as part of that work as a whole. In our last chapter, “Daisy and Demi,” Meg’s twins become the delight of the March household. Meg devotes herself to their care, while John takes special p...

Tonight, we’ll read about the history of jewelry around the world, from Jewels and the Woman written by Marianne Ostier and published in 1958. Ostier was the principal designer and artistic driving force behind Ostier Inc., the New York jewelry firm she founded in 1941 with her husband, Oliver. Marianne was an accomplished painter and sculptor before her marriage, while Oliver came from a distingu...

Tonight, we’ll read all about gemstones from the book Jewels and the Woman, written by Marianne Ostier and published in 1958. Marianne Ostier was not only an author but also a celebrated jewelry designer in mid-20th century New York. Along with her husband, she ran a renowned atelier that catered to an international clientele, including film stars, royalty, and collectors. Her training as a painte...

Tonight, we’ll complete the 1928 children's book by A. A. Milne “The House at Pooh Corner” with the last section titled “IN WHICH Christopher Robin and Pooh Come to an Enchanted Place and We Leave Them There”. In the last episode, Owl’s house had blown down, so Rabbit sent everyone searching for a new one while Pooh tried to make up a song about it, which turned instead into a long hum praising Pi...

Tonight we’ll read another Australian fairy tale called “The Fairy City” written by Hume Cook and published in 1925. This story can stand independently on its own, or as a follow up to "The Magic Well" episode that we aired last week. James Newton Haxton Hume Cook, the author, was an Australian politician who served in Parliament for almost a decade. Beyond his political career, he wrote collectio...

Tonight, we’ll read from “Lessons in Chalk Modeling, the New Method of Map Drawing” written by Ida Cassa Heffron and published in 1900. At the turn of the twentieth century, education was undergoing rapid changes. Teachers sought creative ways to engage students in subjects that were often taught by rote memorization. Geography, in particular, was considered a cornerstone of a well-rounded educati...

Tonight, we shall read the next part to Persuasion, the last novel fully completed by Jane Austen, and published in 1817. The story concerns Anne Elliot, an Englishwoman whose family moves in order to lower their expenses, by renting their home to an Admiral and his wife. Austen began writing Persuasion in 1815, during a period of declining health, yet the novel’s style shows a maturity and restra...

Tonight we’ll read an Australian fairy tale called “The Magic Well” written by Hume Cook and published in 1925. Hume Cook was a politician as well as a writer, serving as a member of Australia’s Parliament at the turn of the twentieth century. Beyond politics, he had a lifelong fondness for storytelling, and eventually wrote down the tales he had invented for his three children. The result was a b...

Tonight, we’ll read about cooking alternatives to wheat, from the 1918 pamphlet “Foods That Will Win the War”. Although the United States did not have food rationing in World War I as it did in World War II, it did rely heavily on propaganda campaigns at the time to persuade people to curb their food consumption. Pamphlets like this one were part of a vast public education effort. Recipes were tai...

Tonight, we’ll read the 32nd chapter of “Anne of Green Gables”, the classic 1908 novel by Lucy Maud Montgomery. This chapter is titled “The Pass List is Out” In the last episode, Anne spent a carefree summer outdoors with Diana, as per the doctor’s advice for her health. The time in the fresh air left her revived and eager for the new school year. As autumn arrived, she threw herself into her stud...

Tonight, we’ll read the second half of “The Story of the Herons,” from a collection titled Moonshine and Clover written by Laurence Housman and published in 1922. The first half aired last week. In the previous episode, a princess was placed under a peculiar curse—destined to fall in love at first sight with whatever creature she saw. To protect her, her parents kept her hidden from the world, all...

Tonight, we’ll read the first half to “The Story of the Herons,” from a collection titled Moonshine and Clover written by Laurence Housman and published in 1922. The second half will air in our next episode. In addition to his fiction and poetry, Housman was a committed activist, championing both women’s suffrage and the acceptance of gay people in society. His work often blended lyrical language...